Our story really begins before we were even born. Summering on the same island together, we knew each other, though not well, since we were toddlers. The infrequency of our crossing paths led us to create wildly inaccurate judgments of each other. Namely, we hated each other. When Asa was seven, he ripped off the heads of Maddie’s barbie dolls during a week when his uncle rented her family cottage. When he was twelve, much to his chagrin, he watched her clean up at the annual island Penny Party. But deep down, he also liked her. When he was maybe eleven, Maddie came down the hill to watch some tennis, a usual weekend morning practice. He was on court, playing doubles with his family and immediately noticed her. Immediately. He hit every shot thereafter twice as hard and lost in short order. When we were twelve, our moms joined us in a doubles match. They seemed to know it was destiny even back then. Neither of us remember the score, but Maddie remembers the hot pink underwear she wore under her white tennis shorts. And then, in the summer of 2007, the stars finally aligned. After a boat outing, Asa walked up the pier with his Dad, headphones in like any teenager. Madeline and a friend were walking down and the four stopped to speak. Like a chivalrous and cultivated gentleman, Asa took one earbud out. He still remembers the song he was listening to, Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother. Bruce and Madeline exchanged hellos as Asa kicked rocks into the ocean, too afraid to say anything. But that night, at the island picnic, he summoned up the courage to join her and her friends and family. The next morning, they played tennis. For three hours. And the rest is history!